When Puyi got married, why did the Beiyang government give so much help? even the then president gave gifts to congratulate him.

in 1949, "go and see the little emperor marry his wife" became a joy in the lives of the people in Beijing at that time. This year, the Forbidden City ushered in the wedding of its last master, which was the last cooperation between the imperial court of the Qing Dynasty and the government of the Republic of China. This wedding brought together various dignitaries of society at that time, and lit up the last glimmer of the afterglow of the Qing Dynasty in the eyes of the people.

"what I want is not Wanrong."

"what I want is not Wanrong."

In view of the precedent that Empress Dowager Cixi chose imperial concubines for Tongzhi and Emperor Guang Xu's wedding, the four imperial concubines also wanted to take this opportunity to arrange the emperor's pillow as their own, so as to take advantage of the power in the Qing Dynasty.

because the widow village and imperial concubine of Emperor Tongzhi died not long after "discussing marriage", and Princess Ronghui, one of the four great princesses, was cowardly and did not participate in these affairs. Only Jing Yi, the widow of Emperor Tongzhi, and Duan Kang, the widow of Emperor Guang Xu, wrestled with each other, and both sides vowed to hold the little emperor firmly in their hands.

at that time, Princess Jingyi preferred Wenxiu, the daughter of Duanggong of Erde in Manchuria, while Princess Duankang chose Wanrong, the daughter of Guobrou Rongyuan.

for this reason, the two men did not hesitate to make a scene at the palace, and each found an Olympic aid outside the palace, that is, Puyi's two uncles, Zai Li and Zai Tao, ran for the "loved ones" of the two concubines respectively, but the two sides were evenly matched in a dispute, so they kicked the ball to Puyi and let him decide. Because the emperors of the former dynasty chose the empress and the concubine by delivering their wishes or giving them a purse, the maneuverability was so great that for the sake of fairness, the princes and ministers used the most "modern" method-- picking photos. Present the prepared photos of Manchurian women to the emperor. Whoever the emperor likes, he can mark it.

until now, Puyi's wedding is not a situation imagined by later generations that "one after one imperial concubine" is in place in one step. At first, I was just going to choose a queen. at that time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent a total of four photos to Puyi, namely, the daughters of Mongolian Wang Gongyang Cangzhabu, Qiandu Tongheng Yong, Rongyuan and Duangong. The four photos are in Puyi's own words: "in my opinion, they all look the same, each has a figure like a paper bucket, the face is very small, really can not tell the ugly handsome." The young Puyi then made difficulties in the four photos, and finally casually chose one that looked pleasing to the eye and drew a circle, and this person was only 12-year-old Wenxiu at that time.

as soon as the result came out, Princess Duan Kang quit, and the person she liked lost the election. on the contrary, it was the old rival Jing Yi who became the queen, so how could she take charge of palace affairs in the future? Duankang then to Wen embroidery family poor, people are not good-looking as a reason, entangled with a group of princes to let Puyi re-election, the so-called re-choice in fact, there is only one option, that is, only Guo Buluo Wanrong. There is nothing more than drawing a circle around. Puyi drew a circle on the photo of the only candidate Wanrong in order to be out of sight and out of mind. Jing Yi did not accept this result, and in the end, Princess Ronghui came forward to be a peacemaker. Since neither side was satisfied, she wanted both, Wanrong as queen and Wenxiu as concubine. Only in this way can the storm after the election be calmed down.

the emperor has no money to get married

the person who got married was chosen, and Puyi appointed his seventh uncle Zaitao to host the wedding ceremony, with Shaoying and the old age as the deputy, and officially began to prepare for the wedding ceremony and purchase. After listening to the report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Puyi gave an upper limit on the number of marriage fees, that is, no more than 360000 yuan.

but when the House of Internal Affairs listed the purchase plan and gave it to Ruan Jinshou, the chief executive of Puyi, according to the emperor's wishes, the eunuch called the plan back. After inquiring in many ways, the Internal Affairs Office knew that it was because these funds were too small and distributed to the palace eunuchs, especially that the chief executive had too little in his hands, so he could not pass.

Puyi did not understand the "flower work", so he naturally agreed. However, the Internal Affairs Office could not come up with this money, so it had to go to the Beiyang government and ask them to allocate 400000 yuan to the "room cleaning preferential treatment fee" owed over the years to meet the urgent needs.

in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of the first year of the Republic of China on the conditions of preferential treatment after the resignation of the Qing Emperor, with reference to the financial plan of the Qing imperial family in the three years of Xuantong, the promise made by the government of the Republic of China was: "after the Qing emperor resigned, the annual expenditure will be 4.002 million yuan. After the new coin is changed, it will be changed to 4 million yuan, which will be appropriated by the Republic of China."

but the reply given by the Beiyang government at this time is: "the national treasury is empty now, so it is difficult to do so, please raise it separately." The Internal Affairs Office is prepared for such an answer, because according to the accounts of the Internal Affairs Office, except for the first year of the Republic of China, after the Beiyang government allocated 4.002 million years old on time and in full, it was 2.882 million in the second year of the Republic of China, and after five years in the Republic of China, it can only receive more than 1 million taels a year, less than half of the prescribed amount, while the annual expenditure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is about NT $2.692 million. In line with the idea that "there are dates but not dates," Shaoying and the elderly held this consultation with the Beiyang government. Since the Beiyang government could not solve the difficulties here, it went on with the old method of selling.

as a matter of fact, the pawning of household property had already become a way to spend the day in the Qing Dynasty. Zhong Kai, the internal affairs office at that time, proposed that the internal affairs office should first raise a batch of treasures, and he would go to Tianjin to sell these things to foreign businessmen. But in this way, other officials of the Internal Affairs Office are unwilling to do it and sell it. You can get all the benefits by yourself. So he reported the matter to the newspaper and trumpeted the news that the imperial family of the Qing Dynasty had sold the cultural relics of the imperial palace. Under the pressure of public opinion, the interior government finally used it.In the form of "mortgage", he borrowed wedding funds from HSBC at the cost of more than 40 large wooden cases of gold and silver utensils plus two boxes of porcelain and jade, while HSBC gave everyone a share of the benefits.

due to the uproar of cultural relics in the mortgage palace and the disgrace of the Beiyang government, the authorities indicated that they would try their best to support the wedding. First, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of China specially wrote a sincere letter of apology to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, explaining why there was no money for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Then, 100,000 yuan was specially set aside from the tariff to finance the wedding, but 20,000 of this 100,000 yuan should be regarded as an official gift from the government of the Republic of China.

at the same time, the Beiyang government promised to be responsible for all security work during the wedding period. According to Puyi's statistics, 2498 regular army troops were deployed during the wedding period. In addition, a large number of gendarmes, police, and fire brigades were on standby at any time to maintain order.

in order to take care of the face of the imperial family of the Qing Dynasty, the Beiyang government also specially approved that the welcoming team and empress could enter the Forbidden City through Donghua Gate. Yes, the queen needs the approval of the Beiyang government to enter the Forbidden City from the previous dynasty. Because as early as the beginning of Puyi's abdication, Yuan Shikai delineated the living area for Puyi, that is, from Qianqing Gate north to Shenwu Gate is the residence of the Sunqing royal family, while the south of Qianqing Gate belongs to the government of the Republic of China.

according to the practice of other emperors of the Qing Dynasty in getting married in the Forbidden City, marrying the empress is to enter the harem through the central axis of the Forbidden City from Daqing Gate, but now it is different from the past, the royal family is grateful to be able to enter through Donghua Gate.

the Beiyang government not only gave face in the form of the wedding, but Li Yuanhong, the then president, also sent ceremonial officials to congratulate Puyi on the wedding day of December 1, 1922. In addition, Puyi was allowed to meet with Beiyang civil and military officials and representatives of warlords from various provinces. Among them, nothing is more unusual than Chang Yinchang, the military attache of the presidential palace. When he met Puyi, he wore a western-style dress and bowed to the newlyweds. After bowing to the newlyweds, he suddenly announced: "just now it represented the Republic of China, and now on behalf of the lackeys themselves saluted the emperor." then he knelt down and kowtowed.

the people present had consternation, secret joy and disdain, but for Puyi, it gave him a great sense of satisfaction. What surprised the royal family most was that foreign ambassadors joined hands to enter the palace from Dongjiaomin Lane to congratulate Puyi. For this reason, the little emperor also issued an ebullient thank you in English.

the emperor's wedding gift

to attend the wedding, there must be a gift. Puyi's wedding is no exception. In addition to the grand scene, the dazzling gifts sent by various forces are also dizzying. According to Puyi's "Marriage ceremony title goods Book", we can see the grand occasion at that time, and now list the gifts given by some of the dignitaries of the Republic of China:

No. 2, Xu Shichang (former president of the Republic of China) Gongjin: Ruyi handle, yellow velvet Yunlong carpet, 28 pieces of porcelain, Kujin satin cushion tables and chairs.

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No. 77, the tour of the two lakes brought in Wu Peifu: a handle of three inlaid jade, a white satin Xiang embroidered feather flower Pingchengtang, a pair of enamel Zhou Ya bottles, and several pieces of precious clothing materials.

No. 153, Kang Youwei, vice president of the Bide Academy, knelt down on the top of the headline; one thousand yuan in silver, two pictures of the wedding of Emperor Napoleon of France and Princess Austria, and one small screen of jade characters of Italian Buddhist practitioners.

on the 160th, President Li Yuanhong presented the following gifts: Dragon and Phoenix gold inlaid with jade double shelves, dragon and Phoenix enamel silver round boxes in pairs, dragon and Phoenix enamel silver round vases in pairs, red satin flowers in pairs.

on the 24th, Anglian of the General Revenue Department submitted: a silver plate.

on the 25th, Zhang Zuolin, commander-in-chief of security in the three eastern provinces, entered: ten thousand silver dollars.

on the 29th, President Li Yuanhong presented a silver gift of 20,000 yuan.

in the picture above, Li Yuanhong (October 19, 1864-June 3, 1928), formerly known as Bingjing, the word Song Qing, is from Huangpi, Hubei. Among the dignitaries, Cao Kun, Feng Yuxiang, Zhang Xun and others also have many gifts. Even Hatong, a Jewish capitalist in Shanghai, and he Dong, a British capitalist in Hong Kong, have also sent precious gifts, including gold and silver clothing, diamonds and pearls.

although the gifts given by the dignitaries of the Republic of China are rich, what attracted the most attention of the imperial court of the Qing Dynasty was the attitude of "respectful advance" and "kneeling", and their words were extremely humble, which made the long-depressed royal family seem to be glowing again. It can be described as "fire cooking oil and flowers with brocade", but it is like seeing it feast guests and seeing its building collapse. Less than two years after the wedding, it took less than two years. Puyi and his empress and Shu imperial concubine were driven out of the palace.

but the grand occasion of the wedding made Puyi unforgettable for a long time and gave him the illusion that he had a terrible idea: "if it were not for the revolution, I would have started pro-politics and I would have personally restored my ancestral estate." once such an idea takes root, it will become a towering tree with the help of "dedicated people", coupled with the encouragement of the old and the young around him, and the "goodwill" of the Japanese. After the marriage, Puyi never asked about the world, and the little emperor began to move towards the position of head of state of puppet Manchukuo step by step.